Raosaheb Danve to head state BJP

The union minister will replace Devendra Fadnavis who continued to head the state BJP even after becoming chief minister

BJP leader Raosaheb Danve, Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, has been asked to head the party’s Maharashtra unit.

Danve will resign from the Modi cabinet because of the party’s one-man one-post policy

Many leaders in the BJP said, Danve, who was inducted in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first team of ministers, had been telling them that he did not have any major role to play as a junior minister of consumer affairs, food and public distribution.

“He told us that he did not have many visitors because people knew he did not have powers to make things happen. He would joke that he and his staff would have nothing to do, but stare at each other in the empty office,” said a leader.

After being told about his new post, Danve told media his priority was to accelerate the party’s ongoing membership drive. He is expected to resign from Modi’s cabinet because of the party’s one-man-one-post policy.

The BJP’s national president Amit Shah announced Danve’s appointment on Tuesday. The 59-year-old four-time MP from Jalna replaced chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who continued to lead the state BJP even after becoming state’s chief executive.